AGO - Abstract Expressionist New York: Masterpieces from MOMA

Huge canvases of chaotic paint dribbles, a painting that appears to be entirely black, or one that is entirely rust coloured, except for a single thin verticle orange stripe .. what makes these works be considered not only art, but priceless masterpieces?  That's the question I set out to answer for myself when I went to see the AGO's latest offering - "Abstract Expressionist New York - Masterpieces from the Museum of Modern Art".  This is one of the only times a MOMA exhibition has been allowed to travel.

The Abstract Expressionism art movement developed in New York starting in the late 1940s.  Influenced and scarred by the traumas of the Great Depression followed by World War II, artists were no longer satisfied with painting traditional subject matters like landscape or still life or portraits.  They wanted to invent a fresh new style that conveyed their emotions to the viewer.

In 1951, Life Magazine wrote an article called "Irascible Group of Advanced Artists Led Fight Against Show" about the group of American artists who led this charge, including iconic names like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, William De Kooenig, Ad Reinhert, Clyfford Still, and Robert Motherwell, all represented with art in this exhibition.  Prominent in the photo but missing from the AGO show is the lone woman in the group - Hedda Stern.

The show is excellently curated and makes great use of multimedia to provide insight into the artists' motivations and techniques, as well as provide general knowledge about painting terms and methods.  Audio and video clips, made by the chief curator of MOMA, describe selected works and sometimes included historic commentary from the artist himself.

Even more interesting were videos where an art educator demonstrates how artists like Pollack, Rothko, Franz Kline and Ad Reinhardt actually created their paintings using each of their unique artistic styles.

Included for the admission price, a docent gives a guided tour of the exhibit daily at 1pm.  Our guide admitted that this was her first tour, and then proceeded to dazzle us with her in-depth knowledge and passion for the subject.  Not only did she give us new perspectives with which to view the art but also regaled us with fascinating anecdotes about the artists.

The highlights of the show were obviously Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, each with an entire room dedicated to his work.  While viewing their famous works up close was thrilling, what interested me even more was seeing their earlier efforts and hearing their personal stories.

Jackson Pollock started out as more of a surrealist before he developed his infamous dribble style of painting.  He was a high strung alcoholic who helped revolutionize the art world by turning his painting style into performance art, almost like a dance.

Through it all he was supported by his artist wife, Lee Krasner whose work is also displayed in the exhibit including this pink and purple explosion of colour which she named Gaea.  After hearing about his life and tragic death, I was inspired to rent the movie "Pollock" starring eery look-alike Ed Harris, in order to gain more insight.

Mark Rothko's acclaimed "field-colour" paintings consist of horizontal blocks of colour which on closer inspection are actually multiple layers of paint of different shades and thickness.

We heard stories about his ego including how he expected people to weep with emotion when viewing his work, and how he withdrew his paintings from a commission for a restaurant because people were busy eating and talking rather than admiring his art. But before all that, he created this lovely whimsical tribute to his new found love with his second wife.  An audio clip by his son describes his vivid  memories of this painting, which was hung prominently in Rothko home as he was growing up.

Franz Kline used common house paint to create abstract black and white images which interpreted his feelings towards concrete objects that he saw.  This painting named "Chief" reflects his memory of a beloved locomotive from his childhood.  The various shades of black on white on black on white invoke thoughts of raw speed and power.  His agent tried to get him to switch to "more refined types of paints" but he determinedly stuck to his house paints.

Ad Reinhardt and Barnett Newman reduced the colour spectrum even further by each experimenting with "black on black" paintings.  A video about one of Ad Reinhardt's painting explained though that if you stare at it long enough, you will find it is not actually black at all but very very dark shades of reds, blues and greens.  The video also demonstrated his technique for creating these paint colours.

During the tour we heard an amusing story of how Ad Reinhardt and Barnett Newman were involved in a lawsuit over who first came up with the concept of black on black painting.  One of them even continued this battle to his death, declaring on his death notice that he was indeed the originator of this concept.

Barnett Newman was more well known for his "Zip" paintings, consisting of canvas in one shade, with a single thin vertical line of a contrasting colour which on closer inspection is sometimes painted on a strip of masking tape that is still on there.  He named this line a "zip" and even created one painting of the zip by itself.

In addition to the paintings, there was also a small sampling of "Abstract Photography".   The black and white photos convey shapes and images that are cropped in a manner to obscure their context, in order to produce the same feeling of abstract expressionism that the paintings strove for.  I found these photographs exciting since unlike the paintings, here was something that I could personally try to emulate and experiment with, so I found them much more relatable.

I noticed that many of these artists were tortured, depressed individuals who died at relatively young age, through car crashes, suicide, heart failure and so forth.  It was interesting to ponder whether it was it their disposition that fueled their genius, or the intensity of their artistic passions that led to their dispositions and common fates?

Ultimately beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I'm not sure that I fully grasp the depth of emotional resonance that this body of work is trying to convey to me.   However I did walk away with a greater understanding of the artists' intentions and an appreciation for the deceiving complexity of what they have achieved.  This is an excellent exhibition and well worth the admission fee.  Hats off to MOMA for creating such a great show, and to the AGO for making it available in Toronto.